An optical assembly for a wavelength-division-multiplexing (WDM) transmitter or receiver that lends itself to cost-effective production-line manufacturing. In one embodiment, the fiber optic assembly has a vernier-type arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) with five optical ports at one side and fourteen optical ports at another side. Ten of the fourteen ports are optically coupled to ten photo-detectors or lasers. A selected one of the five ports is optically coupled to an external optical fiber. The coupling optics and the mounting hardware for the AWG are designed to accommodate, with few relatively straightforward adjustments performed on the production line, any configuration of the AWG in which any consecutive ten of the fourteen ports are optically coupled to the ten photo-detectors or lasers.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An apparatus, comprising: a support structure having a planar surface; a planar integrated dispersive optical element being fixed to the planar surface, the planar integrated dispersive optical element having an array of first optical ports on a first edge thereof and an array of second optical ports on a second edge thereof; an array of optical devices being fixed to the planar surface, each of said optical devices being connected to a different one of the second optical ports, the number of second optical ports being greater than the number of said optical devices; and an optical relay system connected to transmit light between an optical fiber coupler and a selected one of the first optical ports, the optical relay system including a first mirror located on a rail on the planar surface, the rail being such that moving the first mirror there along causes the optical relay system to transmit light between the optical fiber coupler and another of the first optical ports; and wherein the optical relay system further comprises a first lens mounted on the rail.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the array of optical devices is part of a second planar integrated optical element having an array of third optical ports, each third optical port being a port that connects a corresponding one of said optical devices to the corresponding second optical port.
3. An apparatus, comprising: a support structure having a planar surface; a planar integrated dispersive optical element being fixed to the planar surface, the planar integrated dispersive optical element having an array of first optical ports on a first edge thereof and an array of second optical ports on a second edge thereof; an array of optical devices being fixed to the planar surface, each of said optical devices being connected to a different one of the second optical ports, the number of second optical ports being greater than the number of said optical devices; and an optical relay system connected to transmit light between an optical fiber coupler and a selected one of the first optical ports, the optical relay system including a first mirror located on a rail on the planar surface, the rail being such that moving the first mirror there along causes the optical relay system to transmit light between the optical fiber coupler and another of the first optical ports; wherein the array of optical devices is part of a second planar integrated optical element having an array of third optical ports, each third optical port being a port that connects a corresponding one of said optical devices to the corresponding second optical port; and wherein one of the planar integrated dispersive optical element and the second planar integrated optical element is located on a structure for slidably realigning the third ports with different ones of the second optical ports.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the planar integrated dispersive optical element is an optical arrayed-waveguide grating multiplexer/demultiplexer optically coupling the first optical ports to the second optical ports.
5. An apparatus, comprising: a support structure having a planar surface; a planar integrated dispersive optical element being fixed to the planar surface, the planar integrated dispersive optical element having an array of first optical ports on a first edge thereof and an array of second optical ports on a second edge thereof; an array of optical devices being fixed to the planar surface, each of said optical devices being connected to a different one of the second optical ports, the number of second optical ports being greater than the number of said optical devices; an optical relay system connected to transmit light between an optical fiber coupler and a selected one of the first optical ports, the optical relay system including a first mirror located on a rail on the planar surface, the rail being such that moving the first mirror there along causes the optical relay system to transmit light between the optical fiber coupler and another of the first optical ports; and a first rail carrier mounted on the rail, wherein the first mirror is mounted on the first rail carrier, wherein the optical relay system further comprises a relay-lens system mounted on the rail.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , further comprising a second rail carrier mounted on the rail, wherein: the optical relay system further comprises a second mirror mounted on the second rail carrier; the relay-lens system comprises a first lens mounted on the first rail carrier, and a second lens mounted on the second rail carrier; and the first and second lenses of the relay-lens system are positioned between the first mirror and the second mirror.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein each of the first and second lenses is a plano-convex lens.
8. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the relay-lens system comprises a single relay lens mounted on the rail.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the planar integrated dispersive optical element is a waveguide circuit; and the optical relay system further comprises a ball lens mounted on the first edge and positioned between the selected first port and the first mirror.
10. The apparatus of claim 9 , further comprising means for fixedly attaching the ball lens to the first edge.
11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the means for fixedly attaching comprises: a lens holder having a cylindrical bore; and a fastener fixedly attached to the waveguide circuit, wherein the lens holder is attached to the fastener, and the ball lens is secured inside the cylindrical bore of the lens holder.
12. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein: the array of first optical ports has a first spectral spacing between the ports; and the array of second optical ports has a different second spectral spacing between the ports.
13. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a mounting platform, wherein: the planar integrated dispersive optical element is mounted on and attached to the mounting platform; and the mounting platform is designed to accommodate any position in which N consecutive second ports in the array of second ports are optically coupled to the respective optical devices, where N is an integer greater than one but smaller than a total number of the second ports in the planar integrated dispersive optical element.
14. The apparatus of claim 13 , wherein: the mounting platform comprises a first mounting portion and a second mounting portion separated by a gap; one side of the planar integrated dispersive optical element is attached to the first mounting portion; another side of the planar integrated dispersive optical element is attached to the second mounting portion; and a middle portion of the planar integrated dispersive optical element is suspended over the gap between the first mounting portion and the second mounting portion.
15. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein each of the optical devices is a photo-detector or a laser.
16. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a temperature-control unit, wherein: the planar integrated dispersive optical element comprises an arrayed waveguide grating; and the temperature-control unit is in thermal contact with and configured to control the temperature of the arrayed waveguide grating.
17. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the optical fiber coupler is adjustable to move an optical fiber connected thereto in at least one of a longitudinal direction and a transverse direction.
18. An apparatus, comprising: a support structure having a planar surface; a planar integrated dispersive optical element being fixed to the planar surface, the planar integrated dispersive optical element having an array of first optical ports on a first edge thereof and an array of second optical ports on a second edge thereof; and a planar integrated electronic element being fixed to the planar surface and having an array of third optical ports along an edge thereof, each third optical port being connected to a different one of the second optical ports, the number of second optical ports being greater than the number of third optical ports, wherein at least one of the planar integrated dispersive optical element and the planar integrated electronic element is located on a structure for slidably realigning the third ports with different ones of the second optical ports.
19. The apparatus of claim 18 , further comprising an optical relay system connected to transmit light between an optical fiber coupler and a selected one of the first optical ports, the optical relay system including a first mirror located on a rail on the planar surface, the rail being such that moving the first mirror there along causes the optical relay system to transmit light between the optical fiber coupler and another of the first optical ports.
20. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising a first rail carrier mounted on the rail and a second rail carrier mounted on the rail, wherein: the first mirror is mounted on the first rail carrier; and the optical relay system further comprises: a relay-lens system having a first lens mounted on the first rail carrier and a second lens mounted on the second rail carrier; a second mirror mounted on the second rail carrier, wherein the first and second lenses are positioned between the first mirror and the second mirror.
21. An apparatus, comprising: a support structure having a planar surface; a planar integrated dispersive optical element being fixed to the planar surface, the planar integrated dispersive optical element having an array of first optical ports on a first edge thereof and an array of second optical ports on a second edge thereof; an array of optical devices being fixed to the planar surface, each of said optical devices being connected to a different one of the second optical ports, the number of second optical ports being greater than the number of said optical devices; and an optical relay system connected to transmit light between an optical fiber coupler and a selected one of the first optical ports, the optical relay system including a first mirror located on a rail on the planar surface, the rail being such that moving the first mirror there along causes the optical relay system to transmit light between the optical fiber coupler and another of the first optical ports, wherein: the planar integrated dispersive optical element is a waveguide circuit; and the optical relay system further comprises a first ball lens mounted on the first edge and positioned between the selected first port and the first mirror.
22. The apparatus of claim 21 , further comprising means for fixedly attaching the first ball lens to the first edge.
23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the means for fixedly attaching comprises: a lens holder having a cylindrical bore; and a fastener fixedly attached to the waveguide circuit, wherein the lens holder is attached to the fastener and the first ball lens is secured inside the cylindrical bore of the lens holder.
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November 12, 2010
January 28, 2014
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